The IACP extends our thoughts and prayers to the victims and families of yesterday’s terrorist bombings in Boston. We stand with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners in their response and investigative efforts.

We ask that our over 22,000 law enforcement members and the criminal justice community as a whole remain vigilant and work with their communities to ensure that citizens report suspicious activity to law enforcement. The following is a reminder about what can be done to help contribute to this effort.

• The public should contact law enforcement via 9-1-1 when an immediate response is needed regarding suspicious activity for any type of crime, including terrorism.
• Personnel from your agency should prepare Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) and forward them to fusion centers or FBI/Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTF) for follow‐up and mutual coordination/deconfliction.
• Other potentially terrorism‐related tips or leads should be reported directly to FBI/JTTFs to be evaluated for investigation, coordination, and entry into the National SAR Initiative as appropriate.
• Agencies at all levels of government should utilize the “If You See Something, Say Something™” program to raise public awareness of indicators of terrorism and to emphasize the importance of reporting suspicious activity to the proper law enforcement authorities, while protecting privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties.

As a reminder:

• Fusion centers serve as focal points within the state and local environment for the receipt, analysis, gathering, and sharing of threat‐related information among local, state, tribal, territorial, and federal partners. Their job is to produce actionable intelligence for dissemination, which can aid other law enforcement organizations, including the JTTFs, in their investigative operations.
• JTTFs are multiagency task forces designed to combine the resources, talents, skills, and knowledge of local, state, tribal, territorial, and federal law enforcement, as well as the Intelligence Community, into a single team that investigates and/or responds to terrorist threats. JTTFs investigate Suspicious Activity Reports and other terrorism tips and leads.
• Field Intelligence Groups (FIGs) are the hub of the FBI’s intelligence program in the field. They are the primary mechanism through which the FBI field offices identify, evaluate, and prioritize threats within their territories. Using dissemination protocols, FIGs contribute to regional and local perspectives on threats and serve as an important link between fusion centers, the FBI/JTTFs, and the Intelligence Community.

If you have any questions related to the above; contacting your designated fusion center, JTTF, or FBI field office; SAR training and reporting; or the “If You See Something Say Something” campaign, please email Tim Bryan, IACP Program Manager for Information Sharing Initiatives: bryan@theiacp.org.